I was doing Excel support at Microsoft shortly after Win95 came out. Someone called and needed some help on Excel. He told me he had left the computer for a few minutes, and when he came back, the “devil” had “possessed” his computer. He told me it was bubbling all over the place, and the devil was in his monitor. I told him to move the mouse. The devil left. It was the screen saver.
A student dropped by the school’s computer lab and asked us if we could make lasers come out of the screen. He was very insistent about this being possible. I asked if he meant supermarket scanning lasers. He said no, the kind that damages your eyes, and also they move around. We were wondering if this was a clever engineering question, but finally he said his sister’s computer could do it. One of us realized he was talking about one of the Windows screen savers.
I got a call from someone in our office.
Friend: “My computer’s dead.”
Me: “Ok, can you tell me what’s wrong with it?”
Friend: “The screen’s black. I got some coffee, came back, and the screen was black.”
It was a short walk to her desk, so off I go. Looking at the monitor, I saw that it was on with no flashing red lights, so I knew it was connected to the computer. Instinctively, my hand went to the mouse, and snap. The screen came back with all her work.
Friend: “WHAT DID YOU DO!?”
Me: “I moved your mouse. It was your screen saver.”
Friend: “Thanks! You’re a lifesaver!”
Customer: “I just got your software in the mail…when are you sending the computer?”
Tech Support: “You don’t have a computer?”
Customer: “Nope. But I have the software — just send me the computer, and you’ve got a new member.”